Business grows skittish about Trump and GOP after riots
WASHINGTON — Corporate America is quickly distancing itself from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, with many of the biggest names in business — Goldman Sachs, Coca-Cola, Ford and Comcast — suspending political donations after a Trump-inspired mob ransacked the U.S. Capitol in a deadly and violent spree last Wednesday.
For now, the move is about affirming the rule of law and the clear results of an election that will elevate Democrat Joe Biden to the presidency. But it also signals that companies are growing skittish about lawmakers who backed Trump’s false claims of election fraud, possibly depriving Republicans of public backing from business groups who until recently were the heart of the GOP’s political brand.
“This is spreading like wildfire,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at Yale University’s management school who consults with CEOs. “The U.S. business community has interests fully in alignment with the American public and not with Trump’s autocratic bigoted wing of the GOP.”
Yet the pausing of donations announced by many companies — including Marriott, American Express, AT&T, JPMorgan Chase, Dow, American Airlines and others — was unlikely to deliver a serious blow to Republicans in Congress who voted to overturn Biden’s win.
“These are symbolic pledges,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that traces the role money plays in politics. “This is just one source of revenue and for some it’s vanishingly small, particularly in the Senate.”
Corporate-sponsored political action committees are limited to donating $5,000 per candidate each year. In races that often cost incumbents millions of dollars, such contributions account for just a small fraction of the overall fundraising picture.
Take Sen. Josh Hawley. The Missouri Republican has drawn widespread scorn, including from longtime supporters and Senate Republican leadership, for becoming the first senator to announce he would oppose the certification of Biden’s victory.
Since 2017, when he launched his Senate bid, only about $754,000 of the $11.8 million he raised came from corporate PACs and trade groups. That accounts for about 15 percent of his total fundraising haul, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures.
What’s more, Hawley wasn’t the biggest spender in his race. Outside conservative groups, including those affiliated with Republican leadership, were the ones who dropped the lion’s share of money that helped him oust former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. Such groups are largely insulated from the corporate donation pause.
Still, greeting card maker Hallmark went a step further than most companies. The Kansas City-based company has asked both Hawley and recently elected Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall to return its contributions because of their votes opposing Biden’s win.
“Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind,” Hallmark spokeswoman JiaoJiao Shen said in a statement.
A PAC for the company has donated $7,000 to Marshall, FEC records show. The company says it has also donated $5,000 to Hawley.
In many cases, though, most companies are only suspending their giving for several months, leaving ample time to ramp up donations before the 2022 elections.
“They are going into hiding until the news cycle moves on,” said Erik Gordon, a law and business professor at the University of Michigan. “They will be back with their checkbooks, and politicians who already are gearing up for the 2022 congressional contests are waiting at the back door.”
Even if Trump sold himself to voters as a billionaire guru with a Midas-like grip on the economy, many business leaders had already quietly backed away from a president who had cracked down on trade, inflamed racism, curtailed immigration and failed to contain a deadly pandemic.
But the rejection accelerated after he egged on a crowd at a Washington rally and urged them to march on the Capitol on Wednesday.
Since then, technology companies have denied the use of services to Trump’s political operation. The payments firm Stripe has stopped processing donations for Trump campaign committees, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the decision hasn’t been made public.
The move could cut off Trump’s fundraising arm from what has been a steady stream of small-dollar donations that are often solicited through emails and text messages. Stripe’s decision was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.